The Lost Girl, published in 1920, can be considered a transitional novel, in so far as it foreshadows Lawrence’s American experience, making of Italy “a stepping-stone to the New World”. The novel, that Lawrence thought would contribute to women’s cause more than the suffrage itself, is the story of Alvina Houghton’s quest for self-discovery from the industrial Midlands to the small Italian village of Pescocalascio. The aim of the essay is to analyse the role that the Natcha-Kee-Tawaras, an itinerant mock Red Indian troupe, play in the development of her female identity. Though depicted in somewhat ambiguous and grotesque terms - as ambiguous and grotesque are the performers themselves, who repeatedly blur the boundaries between art and life - their Wild West show allows the young woman to get in touch with her innermost drives and desires. The performance, therefore, holds up a mirror to Alvina, revealing her the truth about herself, as Victor Turner would say, and encouraging her to dismiss her socially imposed female role. In the novel Lawrence contrasts the film, which appeals to the spectator’s eye, with “the marvellous movements of the live human body”, which, on the contrary, elicit Alvina’s partecipative response, a corporeal reaction where “motion and commotion converge”. Surprisingly, by comparing the cinema, the most mimetic of all arts in “the age of mechanical reproduction”, with the dancing performance of the Natcha-Kee-Tawara troupe, Lawrence seems to evoke the long lost mimetic faculty of producing similarities, that, according to Benjamin, was dance’s oldest function.
Identity, Performance and Ritual in The Lost Girl
DE GIOVANNI, Flora
2016-01-01
Abstract
The Lost Girl, published in 1920, can be considered a transitional novel, in so far as it foreshadows Lawrence’s American experience, making of Italy “a stepping-stone to the New World”. The novel, that Lawrence thought would contribute to women’s cause more than the suffrage itself, is the story of Alvina Houghton’s quest for self-discovery from the industrial Midlands to the small Italian village of Pescocalascio. The aim of the essay is to analyse the role that the Natcha-Kee-Tawaras, an itinerant mock Red Indian troupe, play in the development of her female identity. Though depicted in somewhat ambiguous and grotesque terms - as ambiguous and grotesque are the performers themselves, who repeatedly blur the boundaries between art and life - their Wild West show allows the young woman to get in touch with her innermost drives and desires. The performance, therefore, holds up a mirror to Alvina, revealing her the truth about herself, as Victor Turner would say, and encouraging her to dismiss her socially imposed female role. In the novel Lawrence contrasts the film, which appeals to the spectator’s eye, with “the marvellous movements of the live human body”, which, on the contrary, elicit Alvina’s partecipative response, a corporeal reaction where “motion and commotion converge”. Surprisingly, by comparing the cinema, the most mimetic of all arts in “the age of mechanical reproduction”, with the dancing performance of the Natcha-Kee-Tawara troupe, Lawrence seems to evoke the long lost mimetic faculty of producing similarities, that, according to Benjamin, was dance’s oldest function.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
